He would write I love you at the end of every
text. Headed home soon. I love you. Lasagna for dinner. I love you. We're listening. Sally, how did that make you
feel? I started to worry. What if I didn't write it back
every time? What if I forgot sometimes? Was in a rush? I felt so guilty. How did that feeling of guilt
land for you? Did you make space for it? I went through every message. Hundreds of texts. I sent it back every time. Thank you, Sally. That took such courage to share. Welcome to W
idows Bereavement
Group. We start at 2. Oh, yeah. I think I've got the wrong
church basement because I was looking for a DND cosplay group. Wednesdays at the Beachwood
Community Center. Oh, my mistake. You must be Abigail. Your friend Margaret, she called and said
that she was encouraging you to come. And also that you would
likely be late and then try to leave early. Oh yeah? Well, good. Expectations are low and
accurate. Well, we're happy you could join
us. It's a safe space. All right, let's
focus back into
the circle here. We have a new member. I would like to introduce you
all to. It's okay. It's. It's tough. Holy (BLEEP)oli. Bunch of strangers staring at
each other, drinking (BLEEP) coffee. Would you like to share your
story, Abigail? Oh, story? Yeah. Okay. 91. When I was on the rodeo
circuit... Oh, your bereavement story. Bereavement. The seven stages of grief. Oh, right. Yeah. Perhaps somebody else would like
to share and we'll - we'll give Abigail a moment. Yeah, well you're s
o damn keen
on sharing maybe you should go. Uh. Rose collected photobooks, travel photographers -
things like that. And, you know, about, about a week and a half ago, I
thought maybe I was ready to
pack them up, put them away. And as I was getting them ready,
it just got hit by this... This thought. What if I hadn't supported her, you know, in her dreams
of what she wanted to do, this was really bothering me. So I went through the books
and I made a list of all the countries
on the dog eared pag
es. And I listed them out and I
counted them. And and there were 38. And then I checked off
all the ones that she'd went to, and it was 34. Almost all of them. And it just felt really good to let go of that fear. Well, what about the other
countries? Sorry. Well, the four that didn't get
to were which one? What were they? Uh, they were Nepal, uh, Montenegro, Panama and Belize. Belize. Mm hmm. All right. So what ones are you going to go
visit first? You know, the last four
countries she never got
to see. I mean, you got to go visit them
now because you gotta live out your
dead wife's dream. Ah Abigail.. We don't... uh. We don't typically respond
to other people sharing. It keeps this a safe space. But that is a wonderful idea. You could see the countries
where we didn't get to see. You bet. Yeah, because that's what you
wouldn't want to do, right? Well, I don't actually think
she necessarily needed. Don't think. Okay, folks, where should. Oh, what's your name? My name is Jeremy. Okay. W
here' should Jerry. Jer Jer
Dinks. Where do you want to go to next? Okay, How about, uh, Nepal? Let's... no. Let's see. Let's stay... Focused on the circle. It would make more sense to
group them Belize than Panama,
then Montenegro and Nepal. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Flight paths. Good idea. To think of that, huh? Lord of violent crime in
Belize... Yup. There sure is. Border tensions, human
trafficking into Guatemala. Not to mention the violent
murders. One of the highest in the
world in inter-gang viol
ence, predatory violence,
killing by armed groups. All super common in Belize. That is not anything
that Jeremy needs to be worrying
about. So does anyone else have an
experience with grief this week that they'd like to
share? My outdoor adventure group
suggests always carrying a danger
whistle. Oh, there you go. Hey, whistle away that predatory violence. Yeah. What about alternatives
to Belize, the Bahamas? Susie and I went to the Bahamas
when we were young. Backpacks. No plan. We were so full
of life. Yeah, well, we're not the dead
ones yet. I don't think that we can just substitute Belize for
another country that begins with B... Can we? No. We cannot. Excellent exercise in exploring
grief everyone. Let's end there for the day. We all know that grief doesn't stop
when the casseroles and cards
do. So I want to thank each of you for showing up,
supporting one another in doing
this very important work. It takes courage to arrive here, and I'm grateful to each one of
you. We are still l
ooking for
suggestions for a new meeting space. So reminder, this is the
last time we're going to
be meeting here. You need new space? What do you usually pay for
rent? Oh, we usually make a small
donation. Oh, I think the tax deduction
thing. Got it. Okay, well, I have a space. You own a support group meeting
space? Absolutely. You could call it that. Well, it's... a lovely offer. I could maybe go this week
and see if it would be a good fit. It's perfect for all your
griefin' and bereifin'. We'
ve been looking for a new
location for months since AA booked
this one. Yeah, OK. See you Wednesday. Not until three, though,
because I got a dance group rehearsing
before then, so. Not available till three. See you then, bud. I'll pick you up at 230,
Patrick. What's the parking situation?
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